Bent Pyramid in Saqqara Dahshur, Giza, Egypt – Egyptian Tombs – pyramid of King Sneferu
History of Pharaonic civilization and facts about the construction of the most important Ancient Egypt Pharaonic pyramids and Egyptian Pharaonic tombs, how much is the entrance ticket price, official working hours and more to discover about the Ancient Egypt History.
Bent Pyramid Facts
The pyramid was named the radiant pyramid as a symbol of the sun’s rays and the worship of the God Ra as one of the most important ancient Egyptian deities – Ancient Egyptian gods and Goddesses and religious beliefs in ancient Egypt as in the Ancient Egyptian religion.
King Sneferu, the most famous Egyptian Pharaohs kings of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt and the Old Kingdom of Egypt in Pharaonic Egypt, built a burial chamber at the top of the pyramid, not underground as in the legends of the Pharaohs “Egyptian Mythology” and stories of Ancient Egyptian Literature, as he appointed himself as the sun god before his death and his name was remembered even after his death..
The amazing stages of building the pyramid:
A strong base was built for the pyramid and it ascended to the top at an angle of inclination of 60 degrees, until the construction stage reached a height of 40 meters from the ground surface, and a malfunction occurred, and as a result the engineers changed the angle of inclination to 54 degrees, then changed the angle of inclination again to 43 degrees, then continued construction until the height of the pyramid reached 105 meters from the base and the height of the sides reached 188 meters..
When King Sneferu saw the pyramid from afar with a curved and broken design at different angles in the middle of the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu, he was very upset and angry, as his ambitions to build a pyramid based on the idea of the eternal mound were not fulfilled.
He decided not to complete the tasks of building the funerary complex around it and to be satisfied with this stage and start building a new pyramid..
Discover the history of the construction of the oldest pyramids of ancient Egypt during the reign of King Sneferu of the Fourth Dynasty. The secrets of building the pyramid and what are the techniques used to build it in the Dahshur area of Giza, Egypt to learn about The Secrets of Pyramid Construction and the extent of the development of the arts of Sculpture in Ancient Egypt and Architecture in ancient Egypt.
The pyramid was built during the reign of King Sneferu of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, and it is called the Bent Pyramid, as the pyramid was built to rise at an angle of 58 degrees from the ground surface, then the angle of the upper part changed to 43 degrees starting from the middle of the pyramid..
It took 14 years to build the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu, but King Sneferu decided to build another pyramid, the Red Pyramid, 2 km north of Her Sneferu, to be buried in..
The technology used in building the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu helped to identify the secrets of building pyramids, as it is done by placing a horizontal square layer of stones, topped by a smaller layer in area at an angle of inclination of 52 degrees, until the complete shape of the Great Pyramid of Giza is obtained..
King Khufu, son of King Sneferu, used the technique of building the Red Pyramid to build the Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau within The Pyramids of Giza and The Sphinx of Giza, reaching a height of 157 meters.
Then King Khafre built the Pyramid of Khafre next to his father, but at a lower height. Then King Menkaure built the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three pyramids, as a tomb for the three kings..
The city of the two pyramids of the king:
We know from other examples, and doubt the king who did not wait until he became old and then occupied himself with the matter of his grave.
It was the dominant matter in the era, and Sneferu built a city, called the City of the Two Pyramids, on the borders of the desert. Near the present village of Dahshur. From this village runs an ascending road.
Towards one of the pyramids. Although it is not as large as the Great Pyramid of Khufu, it is very important because its height is about a hundred meters. It has not been fully examined. They did not find the pharaonic Ancient Egyptian Coffins in it.
The burial chamber has a vaulted ceiling. A method that seems to have been followed in the era of Sneferu. And the neighboring tombs are contemporary with it. And at a short distance, a wonderful monument in the Libyan desert attracts attention..
Bent Pyramid of Sneferu
It is the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu. It is called this because the angle of its curvature changed… before its construction was completed. The fact that it is the Pyramid of Sneferu is not in doubt now, and quarry workers found his name engraved on every stone, and it is frequently read in funerary Mortuary Temples.
This pyramid is amazing. It has two entrances, two hallways and two chambers with a vaulted ceiling. The explanation for this is simple.
After building the first chamber, they found that it was not suitable for royal burial. So they changed the layout after supporting it with cedar columns. They started building another new chamber, and yet we do not know where the king was buried..
Two pyramids for one king. That’s a lot, really. And three is too many. But the third pyramid attributed to Sneferu is none other than the Meidum pyramid, and those who attribute this pyramid to him are not contemporary researchers or Egyptology.
They saw it in very good condition and did not hesitate to attribute it to King Sneferu, but the nearby tombs belonged to employees who lived at the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty, and traces of the buried person were not found in Meidum or Dahshur..
However, we do not have the evidence to confront this problem. The Meidum pyramid was originally a step pyramid like the Pyramid of Djoser and The Southern Tomb in King Djoser funeral complex in Saqqara, which was built during the reign of King Djoser of the Third Dynasty of Egypt.
This style of construction was prevalent throughout the Third Dynasty. This pyramid was transformed into a complete pyramid by re-covering it with limestone, the most famous of the ancient Egyptian stones and minerals “Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy“.
We can say that we see in this Bent Pyramid of Sneferu a transitional stage between the two dynasties. It is strange that this monument connects the two dynasties; it was begun at the end of the Third Dynasty, by the hands of Huni, its last king.
Then it was completed by Sneferu, this king who founded the new Fourth Dynasty. He apparently had the intention of owning this monument that his predecessor had built, but then changed his mind for fear of revenge from the king who would ascend the throne after him..
He had the idea of building a pyramid near Dahshur. Near the seat of government that bore the same name: ‘Sneferu shining, Sneferu appears – and in Meidum Nekri Sneferu cast the memory of Huni into the shadow – and in spite of all these precautions taken to support and preserve the respect for Sneferu’s work, and to put his funerary cult in order, by all sorts of men and officials, including the pyramid officials, we find the quarrymen removing the stones of the ascending paths.
This matter was not tolerated by king Pepi I Meryre “Pyramid of Pepi I“, the most famous pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, who decided to respect and preserve Sneferu’s reputation as a good king and to preserve the pyramids, the city and its inhabitants..
The exiled kings’ envoys carved reliefs in Sinai to immortalize their memory. They assert their control over foreign lands: Sneferu, smiting the barbarians, brings down his victorious whip on the Asiatic enemy.
In front of him is a rectangular frame containing his title, Lord of Maat, the most famous of the gods. He declares himself Horus in the palace. He rules the system for the heavenly Horus, embodied by the king himself..
Statues of King Sneferu:
However, we have two heads in relief, one wearing the double crown. On the other a head-dress surmounted by two pairs of horns and two feathers. In front of the crown is a cobra.
The eyes are open as in the Clothing in ancient Egypt, the neck is rather short, the lips slightly extended: the chin is slightly soft.
Two statues like the reliefs come from the funerary temple attached to the bent pyramid of Sneferu, and are very broken..
The lesser of the two statues shows us a calm, ordinary-featured figure, and, as far as we can judge from these pharaonic Egyptian Antiquities, bears no resemblance to Khafre or Menkaure, but perhaps to King Djedefre, Khafre’s successor..
Sneferu, the founder of the dynasty, left no information about his parents. He had two wives who outlived him. Queen Hetepheres I was the most famous queen of Pharaonic Egypt “Female Pharaohs“, and she was probably the daughter of King Huni.
It often happened in the course of Pharaonic history that the founder of a new dynasty would marry the daughter of a ruler who would confirm him in his position and receive the Coronation of the Pharaohs, confirming the legitimacy of his seizure of the throne..
Archaeologist and Egyptologists Dr. Reisner discovered a deep underground cache containing the queen’s magnificent Funerary Equipment furniture near the Pyramid of Khufu, which is one of the glories of The Egyptian Museum “Museums in Cairo” in Tahrir Square. On the dome of the bed we read the names of her husband Sneferu.
On the chair are the names of her son Khufu. Perhaps we can say that the queen, after the death of her husband, lived for a period during the reign of her son Khufu, who took care of her burial. There remains one mysterious point.
The pharaonic Ancient Egyptian Coffins in the cache was empty, so the body of the queen’s pharaoh’s Mummy was not found. Perhaps Khufu himself removed it from its place, but we do not know what happened after that..
Note: Facts and secrets of the history will be added soon…
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